Former President Trump in an interview with conservative media personality Candace Owens pushed back over her claims undermining the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
In a Wednesday episode of The “Daily Wire” podcast, Trump told Owens that he takes credit for the “incredible speed” of how the vaccines were developed during his time in office and his partnership with private pharmaceutical companies.
“I came up with a vaccine, with three vaccines,” Trump told Owens. “All are very, very good. Came up with three of them in less than nine months. It was supposed to take five to 12 years.”
Owens then said to Trump that more people died from the virus in 2021 than in 2020 even with the vaccine being administered to the public, taking a shot at President Biden.
“Yet more people have died under COVID this year,” Owens told Trump. “By the way, under Joe Biden, than under you and more people took the vaccine this year. So people are questioning how—”
“Oh no, the vaccines work, but some people aren’t the ones. The ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take the vaccine. But it’s still their choice. And if you take the vaccine, you’re protected,” Trump told Owens.
“Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it’s a very minor form,” Trump continued. “People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.”
Trump recently shared during a sit-down interview with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly that he has received his COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.
The former president went on to tell Owens that despite the inoculations working, he is against vaccine and mask mandates, saying that “people have to have their freedom.”
The U.S. is currently dealing with a winter surge of COVID-19 infections as the omicron variant has taken hold across the nation.
Read: Trump to Supporters: “You’re playing right into their hands” by doubting the vaccines
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